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A vote for elections

I'm not shy, and coming from me as a geocacher only:

My sense has been that part of the GeocachingMaine community has wanted to be more visible and involved in our home communities/towns. While many have done so on an individual basis (which is great and should be continued!) I know I have heard (and yes I agree) that the GeocachingMaine Board should also be more involved than an average GeoachingMaine community member.

The current Board members seem adament that their level of involvement has been adequate and appropriate. I agree that what has been done regarding outreach and upkeep of the website has been great, but I would like to point out two things I hope that the Board with the community can work on:

1) More face-to-face, on-the-ground outreach promoting our community as a tool to accomplish the GeocachingMaine.org mission of "to promote the sport of geocaching, an appreciation of the outdoors, and good stewardship of the land and environment".

2) And if the forums are our main focus as a community (see full mission statement) then I think this is a serious task to undertake: Fully address the cost of the web components of our website, in that issues such as broadband and other ownership issues are not ignored or brushed aside until they become insolvable. (I commend Rick's time and ability to maintain our site thus far, but he needs help to, in a long-term manner, address these issues.)

Thus, I would like to have new elections, and I would like to elect or re-elect folks who are excited to be proactive in promoting our mission. I hope others who feel so will also speak up, thanks in advance.

"Given a chance, a child will bring the confusion of the world to the woods, wash it in the creek, turn it over to see what lives on the unseen side of that confusion." --Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods

paraphrasing part of the post....

Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

The Advisory Board members are NOT "officers" of the organization. The board was established as a decision making body which would step in as required - such as when debate on a Maine geocoin design showed no sign of ending. We Have no mandate to DO anything. We react when someone makes a suggestion - sometimes not quite as fast as one or two members would prefer, but... Keep in mind that GeocachingMaine.org is not a formal organization.

I'm not so sure I am completely comfortable with the statement.." We have no mandate to DO anything. " I always thought that someone, ( meaning the board ) would stand up for geocaching in Maine and help to promote the good stewardship that Steph mentioned. I know that FFJ has in the past but what about the future. If there is not mandate to DO anything, then why do we have or need an advisory board anyways.
If the current board does not want to help promote geocaching in Maine, the way it should be.....then maybe we need to elect new board members.

Or maybe we just need to change what the board does?

Why not live life like it is your last day....instead of pretending to be a member of the Peter Pan Club and believing you will be around forever.

I had mentioned this in another thread, so I feel obligated to Bud In.
I haven't been here long enough to know what has or has not been accomplished with the current Board Members, But What I would like to see is an addition of a Newbe member.
No, I don't mean me !!!!
Here is my reason.
A few threads back, a board member had stated that unfortunatly the seasoned cachers don't get as enthused when a Cacher gets a FTF!!! That's too bad because If people start to get uninterested in some of the accompleshments that Newer cachers make, it could make it less interesting to them.
Maybe a New cacher added to the group ,could bring a fresh charge, Or Ideas, or help noobes with those REPEAT questions, etc...
That's my thought!
Opalsns

Board

Having served on many Boards, some formal and some "loose", it would be beneficial to have new "blood" on the board. I really haven't belonged long enough to say what could be improved, but if this organization wants to move forward it will take fresh ideas. No offense to those who organized this site and currently serve but I have trouble with the whole idea that "the less organization the better" which seems to be our groups paradigm. And I have already put my thoughts clearly on the line about how odd it seems to me that the vets have limits on their ability or willingness to recognize the accomplishments of newer cachers.

I'd rotate folks in and out on a regular basis. New board members mean new ideas and new enthusiasm. Who knows where that might lead.

What about the guidlines that are posted in the "about geocaching maine" part of the site where it says this about the board...

Elections: Names of those interested in participating in the advisory board will be collected in the first week of December and voting will be held the last three weeks of December. The current board will decide on the method to collect, count and validate the votes. All geocachingmaine.org members will be allowed one vote. The votes will be tallied at the first of January and the board will be refreshed at that time. Four board members will be elected in. The webmaster is a necessary member and will hold the position of 5th board member.

What about the guidlines that are posted in the "about geocaching maine" part of the site where it says this about the board...

Elections: Names of those interested in participating in the advisory board will be collected in the first week of December and voting will be held the last three weeks of December. The current board will decide on the method to collect, count and validate the votes. All geocachingmaine.org members will be allowed one vote. The votes will be tallied at the first of January and the board will be refreshed at that time. Four board members will be elected in. The webmaster is a necessary member and will hold the position of 5th board member.

Shouldn't we keep to what was written?

Mind blowing . . . simply mind blowing.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

What about the guidlines that are posted in the "about geocaching maine" part of the site where it says this about the board...
Blah blah
Shouldn't we keep to what was written?

Ummm, that's exactly what we're doing. Did you skip the section just before that?

Board Reviews: In the beginning of November of even numbered years, a poll will be posted to the site asking the membership if they would like to keep the board members as is or if elections should be held to refresh the board.